8.00 BOB MAYNARDSOUNDSTAGEDark StarWritten and performed by Nigel BowdenPoet Wilfred Owen was born in l893 and died leading his men across a bridge just one week before the end of the l9l4-l8 War. His mother received news of his death as the bells were ringing out to signal the Armistice.Dark Star begins in January 1917. Owen writes to his mother about a posting to France. Within days he expects to be at the Front, amid the dangers of the trenches, where thousands of men from both sides died for little territorial gain.Woven into Nigel Bowden's performance is Owen's poetry, which evokes the emotional and physical experience of those who fought. Produced for the BBC by David Hitchinson.BBC Radio International